Lwart Environmental Solutions said recently that it will expand its used lubricant rerefinery in Lencois, Brazil, by 50%, making it one of the largest such facilities in the world.
The project will cost 1 billion reais (U.S. $200 million) and will raise the plant’s waste oil processing capacity to 324,000 metric tons per year and is scheduled to come onstream in 2025.
Neither the Oct. 23 news release about the project nor the company’s website specify the plant’s base oil production capacity before or after the project. According to Lubes’n’Greases’ Base Stock Plant Data, the plant currently has capacity to make 1,550 barrels per day of API Group II base oils.
Lwart President Thiago Trecenti said the project is significant for Brazil as the country depends on imports for a large portion of its base oil needs, and Lwart is the only domestic source of Group II oils.
“Lwart collects used lubricating oil throughout the national territory, and with the expansion, we should grow even more in capillarity,” Trecenti said in a news release. “This will ensure that a greater volume of waste is managed correctly and that there is, consequently, a greater production of Group II base oil in the country.” He added that demand for rerefined base oils is growing as a result of the sustainability movement.
“The fact that the environmental, social and governance trend has definitively hit the world on a global scale contributes directly to the increase in demand for the sustainable solutions offered by Lwart, all part the company’s DNA since its birth.”
Lwart could not be reached for comment. The company’s news release claimed that its rerefinery will be the world’s second largest after the expansion, a claim that appeared based on waste oil throughput capacity. Lube Report was unable to determine where the plant would rank on that score. If the plant’s base oil production capacity increases by 50%, the number would rise to 2,325 b/d, which would sixth globally behind Safety-Kleen’s 5,600 b/d plant in East Chicago, Indiana, United States; Heritage-Crystal Clean’s 3,200 b/d plant in Indianapolis, United States; and three plants in the United States, Canada and France ranging from 2,400-2,500 b/d.
To prevent environmental contamination, Brazilian laws stipulate that waste oil should be processed and recycled into base oils that can be remade into lubricants.
“We continuously invest in innovation and technology to improve our productivity and the quality of our products,” said Trecenti.
Currently, the company is the national leader in collecting and rerefining used or contaminated lubricating oil. It is also the only Group II producer in Latin America. Lwart also collects, disposes of, and transforms several types of commercial and industrial solid waste, the release said.
There are 19 temporary waste oil storage units spread throughout Brazil, receiving oil from approximately 80,000 customers every year, according to Lwart.